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Some of you may not even know this week exists, but it’s Afternoon Tea Week from 13-19 August 2018. It’s all about celebrating this tradition and recognising quirky, quaint and unique venues around the UK to “take tea”. Tea drinking dates back to China, (c. 3rd Century BC) but afternoon tea was supposedly started by the Portuguese Infanta Catherine de Braganza, King Charles II’s wife in the 1660s. It was the popularised in the 1880s by Anna, the seventh Duchess of Bedford.…

It was Samaritans Day on 24 July entitled #TheBigListen. A 24-hour fundraising campaign to enable the charity continue their crucial work and raise awareness of the importance of listening and lending an ear to others. I saw volunteers at various train stations handing out copies of their SHUSH listening tips and sharing the photos on social media to raise awareness. Around 20% of the UK population will have suicidal thoughts at any given time. Out of this 20%, 6.7% will go onto…

Celebrating the NHS Last week saw the 70th anniversary of the UK’s National Health Service (NHS). The ground-breaking, innovative creation of a state-funded health care for all UK citizens. Sadly, at the moment the NHS is in a precarious state. I was listening to stories on the radio about the first nurses to work in the NHS in 1948, how innovative it was and the sheer amount of love the UK has for the NHS. The staff that have saved…

Mental Health Training This week I delivered the two day adult Mental Health First Aid Training for a large financial organisation, with a large customer base. The delegates were great, open and willing to share their lived experiences of supporting people with mental-ill health. However, there was one delegate who fixated on the issue of team members faking mental-ill health. They asked the question at least eight times during the session. They were very concerned as a manager what do you do,…

June is post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) Awareness Month. In the UK it is believed that 1 in 3 people will have experienced a traumatic event in their life. Trauma can be caused by any kind of abuse, physical, emotional, sexual, witnessing abuse, witnessing any kind of crime, arelationship breakdown, workplace bullying, war etc. On the anniversary of the Grenfell fire this brings PTSD into sharp focus. Residents still recovering from what they witnessed, in many cases having no permanent…